Today In History with The Retrospectors
Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll.
From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain to America's Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes!
Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee).
Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 1104
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
When 'Grease' Was The Word
Rerun: Edgy, gritty and sexy, the Broadway production of ‘Grease’ opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 7th June, 1972, beginning what would become a record-breaking eight-year run.
Despite NOT featur…
00:11:30 |
Fri 07 Jun 2024
It's Fun To Found The YMCA
Rerun: George Williams, 22, created the Young Men’s Christian Association to provide somewhere for London’s young men to escape the vices and stress of rapid urbanization (translation: get yourself c…
00:11:36 |
Thu 06 Jun 2024
When Lovelace Met Babbage
When Lord Byron’s 17 year-old daughter, Ada Lovelace, attended a soirée at the home of academic Charles Babbage on 5th June, 1833, the pair hit it off immediately. He invited her to see his ‘Differen…
00:12:35 |
Wed 05 Jun 2024
Roquefort: Cheese of Kings
On June 4, 1411, Charles VI of France granted the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon a monopoly to ripen his favourite cheese.
Noted for its sharp, tangy, salty flavor and its rich, creamy texture, Roqu…
00:12:06 |
Tue 04 Jun 2024
Meet The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Just 224 words long, Eric Carle’s classic children’s book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, was first published on 3rd June, 1969. Initially conceived as a "bookworm" eating through the pages, Carle's …
00:11:33 |
Mon 03 Jun 2024
The Controversial Birth of Corn Flakes
Rerun. John Harvey Kellogg believed his corn flakes had a future as a sexual suppressant when he filed a patent for "Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same" on 31st May, 1895.
What the Seventh …
00:12:31 |
Fri 31 May 2024
Hershey and the Chocolate Theme Park
Rerun. Hersheypark was created as a recreation ground for the workers and families who staffed the Hershey chocolate factory in Pennsylvania when it opened on 30th May, 1906. But visitors from across…
00:12:22 |
Thu 30 May 2024
Recording 'White Christmas'
Bing Crosby recorded the biggest-selling single of all time, ‘White Christmas’, on 29th May, 1942. The session took just 18 minutes, and the song was not considered the standout from the album: every…
00:12:33 |
Wed 29 May 2024
Welcome To Quintland
‘Miracle babies’ the Dionne Quintuplets - Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie, and Marie, the first known quintuplets to survive infancy - born on 28th May, 1934 in rural Canada.
Fearing private exploita…
00:13:29 |
Tue 28 May 2024
The Very First Eurovision
Rerun: Spectacle, camp and glamour were NOT on the agenda in Lugano, Switzerland on 24th May, 1956: the inaugural Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast mostly on the radio, and featured a whistling d…
00:10:50 |
Fri 24 May 2024
Demonstration? Defenestration!
Rerun: Throwing people out of windows might seem a peculiar way to protest, but it’s happened so often in history, it’s got a special name: defenestration. And perhaps the most significant of all - b…
00:12:04 |
Thu 23 May 2024
Jerry Lee Lewis's Child Bride
When Jerry Lee Lewis landed at Heathrow Airport for his first UK tour on 22nd May, 1958, he was met with a flurry of journalists eager for a scoop. Yet just one question brought everything to a halt:…
00:13:05 |
Wed 22 May 2024
Burying Bob Marley
The funeral for Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley was half religious ceremony, half rock concert on 21st May, 1981.
An estimated 100,000 people are believed to have seen Marley’s body lying in state, …
00:12:18 |
Tue 21 May 2024
How To Survive A Nuclear Bomb
‘Protect and Survive’, the UK Government’s pamphlet offering Britons advice on how to navigate the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, was published on 20th May, 1980, following a campaign in The Times…
00:12:40 |
Mon 20 May 2024
The Man Who Invented The Wild West
Rerun: Gun totin’, horse ridin’ spectacular ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West’ opened in Omaha, Nebraska on 17th May, 1883 - the start of a multi-decade run.
With a cast of hundreds, including Calamity Jane,…
00:11:17 |
Fri 17 May 2024
Marie Antoinette's Wedding
Rerun: The future Queen of France was accompanied by 57 carriages, 117 footmen and 376 horses on her journey from Austria to Versailles - but remarkably took only three hours to do her hair and makeu…
00:12:09 |
Thu 16 May 2024
The Unkillable King George
George III narrowly dodged a bullet for the SECOND time in one day on 15th May, 1800, as he attended a performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
The assassination attempt came from James Hadfie…
00:10:44 |
Wed 15 May 2024
The First Two Minute Silence
The two minute silence can be traced back to 14th May, 1918, when it was first observed in Cape Town, South Africa.
Repeated daily for a year, and initiated by the firing of the noon day gun on Sign…
00:12:44 |
Tue 14 May 2024
Cardinal Richelieu and the Table Knife
Disdain for bad table manners reportedly led 17th Century Machiavelli Cardinal Richelieu to insist that knives should be flattened at his table on 13th May, 1637 - revolutionising dining etiquette.
W…
00:11:20 |
Mon 13 May 2024
The Lady Who Left Her Baby Outside
As Annette Sorensen drank margaritas in a New York BBQ restaurant on May 10th, 1997, she left her 14 month-old daughter outside, in a stroller.
She spent two days in jail, was accused of child negle…
00:11:58 |
Fri 10 May 2024
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